


Hands on

by lenfaz



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-05-24 10:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6150571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lenfaz/pseuds/lenfaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You look a lot like my good friend so I ran up behind you and grabbed your ass with both hands in front of everyone I’m so sorry</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the-captains-ayebrows (EscapistFiction317704)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EscapistFiction317704/gifts).



_Face it, I’m better._

_Keep dreaming, buddy._

_I’ll always be better. Mark my words, Swan. Whatever you do in life, I’ll do it first._

_Right… I’m getting transferred at the end of the month. We’d hardly see each other again._

_Oh no, you won’t get rid of me. I’ll be in your life forever, Emma. You can count on it._

/-/

She shouldn’t. She knows she shouldn’t. They aren’t teenagers anymore. They are adults - responsible adults - with mortgages or rents due at the beginning of the month, health insurances and working schedules. They are _respectable_ people, both of them with successful careers in which they are considered undisputable professionals.

But she hasn’t seen Will in person in five years. Skype is a wonderful invention, it is, but there are certain things you cannot do in Skype. Like the one she’s desperately trying to resist the temptation to do, as he’s leaning over the counter at the coffee shop, leaving his best asset - his words, not hers - exposed to the world.

Or her hands.

So she does the most childish thing she’s done in five years - funny how that happens every time she’s around Will - and her hands reach out to grab his butt and give it a hard squeeze.

Will jumps startled and Emma laughs, patting his behind a little for good measure. But her laugh dies on her lips the moment he turns around his face and Emma is looking at some wide blue eyes that are clearly _not_ Will’s. The stranger tilts his head over his shoulder as an amuse look comes to his eyes at the sight in behind him. His eyes scan down as much as possible, an eyebrow lifting at Emma’s hands still resting on his ass.

She finally snaps out of it, and blushed profusely as she removes her hands.

“Oh my god,” she says as she takes a step back and averts her gaze.

“Oh please, love. Don’t stop on my account,” the stranger teases. He has an lilting accent and Emma lifts her head to look at him. He seems amused, his blue eyes dancing with mischief as he bites his lower lip. He has dark hair, tousled as if he’s been carelessly running his fingers through it and a light scruff adorns the chiseled lines of his face.

Emma loses her train of thoughts for a second, her mouth gaping at the pretty picture standing in front of her - it is quite a pretty picture, she has to admit. Her eyes scan from the features of his face to the lean lines of his tall and muscular body.

He clears his throat and she blushes further as her eyes find his again. He’s cocking an eyebrow at her smugly and Emma decides that escape is the only route.

 _When in doubt, run like hell_. That has been her life motto and she fails to see why she should do anything different right now.

“Look I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else. I - I have to go!” she all but yells the last line as she’s retreating into the door in a non-very valiant - ok, totally coward - way.

“Wait!” she hears as she turns around and the stranger calls after her. “At least tell me your name, lass?”

_No way._

She makes her way out of the coffee shop and quickly gets into her car, inserting the key into the ignition before she exhales deeply and bumps her forehead against the wheel. One question still remains in her head.

_Where the fuck is Wil!?_

As if being summoned by magic, her phone chirps with a new message, the selected beep tone letting her know that it’s from her old-time friend. 

**_Sorry, princess. Something came up. But the good news is that I’m settled in my new house. Come in tonight for a housewarm party?_ **

_Damn you, Scarlett._

/-/

Well, she has to hand it to him, Will has done good with his life. Who would know back in the day the bastard will have a knack for digital innovation? Emma whistles under her breath at the modern style condo that he calls his new home. That looks expensive and her first thought is that he really one-upped her on this one. She loves her flat and wouldn’t trade it for the world, but this place looks _good_. Will did good and after the competitive streak wears off, she’s genuinely smiling at his friend's success. And she’s happy that he’s finally decided to settle down and close to her on top of everything.

She rings the bell, balancing an imported beer case under her arm. She could have gone for an expensive bottle of wine, but Emma and Will are beer type of people, trading their origins back to the times they used to stealthy sneak a bottle out of their foster parents and share it underneath the stars.

Emma is lost in her reminiscence of the not-so-good ol’ days when the door opens.

“Finally, Scarlett, I thought I was going to grow old in he-” she starts talking before lifting her eyes but the moment she does, she almost drops the beer case. The air leaves her lungs as she stands there, shockingly looking at the set of blue eyes looking back at her and all she manages is one word.

“ _You?_ ”


	2. Chapter 2

The dark haired stranger whose ass she’d grabbed less than twelve hours ago is standing there by the door.

_Crap, did I misread the address?_

Before she has time to utter one word, he’s leaning against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow at her.

“Darling, are you stalking me?” He tilts his head to the side and a smug smirk comes to his face. “I should be worried, but I think I’m more flattered than anything else, especially when you magically appear at my door carrying beer.”

“I think I have the wrong address,” Emma starts, backtracking her steps and holding the beer case for dear life.

He makes a move to stop her, but before he can reach her, a loud voice speaks from behind him.

“Emma, is that you?” Will appears on the doorway and shoves the dark haired stranger aside to reach for Emma and enveloping her in a hug. “Oi, Blondie, it’s good to see you.”

Emma fumbles for a minute before she relaxes into Will’s embrace, feeling comfort in the familiar way his arms hold tight on her. “It’s good to see you too, Will,” she whispers softly.

Will steps away and his hand reaches to pick the beer case from her. He turns around and he focuses his eyes on the dark haired man that is standing on the doorway, looking from one to the other flabbergasted, his mouth agape.

“Oi, Killian, are you ok? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost!” Will teases, reaching to shove the beer case in Killian’s chest. “Make yourself useful and carry this, will ya?”

Killian shakes his head, as if coming out of a dream, clears his throat and finally speaks, “Emma? As in the _Emma Swan_?”

Emma’s eyes dart from one to the other and she finally puts the pieces of the puzzle together. She’d heard over and over about Will’s business partner, apparently the best mate one could have working with you. That is not usually how Will talks about Killian - wanker, obnoxious prat and too full of himself being the preferred choices - but Emma can read between Will’s lines as much as he can read her back.

“Killian? As in the Killian Jones?” she mimics his words as Will leads her into the house, Killian in tow.

“So… you’ve heard of me,” he says as he stands in front of her, a smirk coming to his face, a teasing tone in his voice and a little swagger on his stance. He shoves the beer case back to Will and he puts his hand for her to shake.

Something about the open challenge of his stance compels her to take one step closer to him as her hand shook his.

“Careful,” Will says, “she’s stronger than she looks.”

“Oh, I know how firm those hands can grasp,” Killian replies, his tongue darting out to wet his lower lip, the invasion of her personal space making her feel warm in a way that she hasn’t in - well - a _long time_. She tilts her head, her hand lingering a moment too long in his, before the sound of a throat clearing snaps the both of them out of the spell they were under.

“What did I miss?” Will asks suspiciously, his eyes darting from Killian to Emma as he places the beer case on the fridge.

“Remember the tough blonde I was telling you about?” Killian says, reaching for the beer that Will is handing him and taking a long drag of it, his eyes never leaving Emma’s.

“No way!” Will says as he hands Emma another beer and he stands there, looking from one to the other in bewilderment.

“Oh yes,” Killian exclaims, wagging his eyebrows. “I’ve had the pleasure of being groped by the Lady Swan earlier this morning.”

“Please, it was hardly a squeeze,” Emma retorts, her mouth playing with the bottle, earning her a very amused cocked eyebrow from the dark haired - from _Killian_. “I barely touched a cheek,” she defends herself.

“You’re welcome to give it another try, Swan.” Killian smirks, getting closer to her, his breath fanning over her face as he leans in, his blue eyes darkening. “Don’t be afraid to, you know, _really_ get into it.”

She gets lost in the intensity of his blue eyes, her breath catching as his eyes dart to her lips, the fine lines of his face so close that she has to refrain herself from reaching out and tracing her finger over his scruffed jawline.

Killian is suddenly pulled away from her, the absence of his body heat leaving her cold and almost shivering and she turns her head to see Will still grabbing the back of Killian’s black button-up shirt.

“I’m not sure I like where this is going, Jones,” he says in a threatening tone, lifting an eyebrow at his business partner and pointing at Emma. “She’s off-limits.”

Killian moves to the side to free himself from Will’s grasp and makes a point to straighten his shirt, causing Emma’s eyes to focus on the charms of his necklace and the chest hair that is visible from the first open buttons of his shirt.

“Please Scarlet, as if _you_ didn’t jump _my_ best friend the moment you met her.” He points out with an offended voice.

“Hey, I didn’t jump her.” Will defends himself. “I courted her. There’s a difference,” he points out smugly.

The information clicks for Emma and she gives them both a smile. “So, you are responsible for Belle gracing Will’s life?” She all but beams at Killian. “I think I’d be forever thankful to you then. She’s the best thing that ever happened to him.”

Killian takes another sip from his beer and scoffs, “He’s the worst thing that ever happened to her. Excuse me if I don’t share the sentiment.”

Will pats him playfully in the shoulder, “Oi! _Worst_ , mate?”

“Aye, maybe not worst,” Killian concedes, “But in the worst five for sure.”

“Make yourself useful and get the fire started as I show Emma the house,” Will says before he wraps his arm around Emma’s shoulder and pulls her to him. “Come Swan, let me show you our humble abode.”

She smiles and stumbles a little as Will all but drags her to the rest of the house, but she can’t help but feeling Killian’s intense gaze on her.

/-/

“I seem to recall you said housewarm _party_ , Scarlet.” Emma points out as she lounges on Will and Killian’s _very_ comfortable couch, balancing a plate with chocolate cake and icecream on one of her knees as she takes a sip of her beer.

“Are you opposed to a more _intimate_ environment, love?” Killian asks from the floor, where’s he’s been sitting cross legged, his own dessert resting on the coffee table.

Will is on the other side of the table, his eyes lost on the flames from fireplace.

“When was the last time you had a home cooked meal, Emma?” he asks softly and Emma chuckles.

“You know me too well, Will.”

“That I do, my darling,” he replies softly, reaching to pat her affectionately on the knee.

“That’s why he thought it best to benefit from my magnificent grilling skills and treat you to a good meal instead.” Killian offers, a small flirty smile coming to his lips as he looks at her.

She feels the air suddenly thickening around her and she averts her eyes. “I wouldn’t go as far as to say magnificent, but you are decent, Jones.” Her words deflect the mood and he takes the hint, his eyes leaving hers to focus back on his dessert.

“Besides, I’d like to wait for Belle to have the actual party,” Will says. “This was more the special treatment for my favorite - well, now _second_ favorite - lady.”

Emma hits him playfully in the shoulder and he catches her hand and presses a soft kiss to her knuckles.

“And on that note, considering you’ve reached the point where you get violent, I’m going to dashly escape to my room and leave you with Jones over here.” Will stands up. “I have an early start tomorrow to pick Belle at the airport. You’re welcome to stay here, at the guest room. I don’t want you to drive back.”

“I didn’t drink that much,” Emma protest but Will silences her with one look.

“Humor me,” he says before bending and pressing a soft kiss to her temple. “Night, Swan princess. Don’t let the villains kidnap you in your sleep. ”

Emma’s eyes soften, and a tender smile comes to her lips at the words he’d been saying to her since they were children. “Goodnight, Will.”    

She can feel Killian’s eyes on her but she remains silent for a while, her eyes focused on the fire in front of her. He seems to read her thoughts and gives her time to finish her dessert before he retrieves their plates and takes them to the kitchen. He spends a few minutes there and when he’s back, a new beer bottle is set next to her on the coffee table.

“Thanks,” Emma says and watches as he fidgets a minute before making a decision and sitting next to her on the couch. He shifts for a second, leaving a prudential space between them. 

“So… you and Will have known each other for a while?” he asks softly, his eyes not meeting hers but set on the fire instead.

“Decades, actually,” Emma sighs.

Killian remains silent and Emma takes the time to study the way his features enhance under the firelight, the hard lines of his cheekbones and jaw, the creases around his eyes. There’s something brewing in the air and she can feel it setting deeply in her bones.

“You know, don’t you?”

He turns around to face her, his blue eyes filled with understanding, “I know his childhood hasn’t been the best.”

“That’s one way to put it,” she chuckles sadly to herself. “Both he and I endured the system, bumping from foster homes to groups homes, back and forth until it was all a blur and you didn’t even remember which city you were in, which county, which address, nothing.” Emma takes a long, deep gulp from her beer, wondering why she’s telling this story to Killian, who’s practically a stranger.

But somehow he’s not. Over and over she’d heard Will talk about him and she knows that Will trusts Killian enough if he’d shared his life story with him.

“We met a group home at 12, got send to the same foster home at 13. Back to the group homes at 14.” Her voice is small as the memories fill her in and she lets them. They aren’t that painful anymore. Not when she’s sitting in Will’s comfortable couch in his modern condo and she has a functioning car parked outside and has been able to even afford a few luxuries on her own. “We stood there until we were almost 16, got ourselves in all sorts of troubles before I got transferred. I thought it was going to be the end of it - you never get to keep in contact with people after you leave, no matter what you promise.”

She smiled again. “But Will is a persistent bastard if I’ve ever seen one. He’d made a stupid promise that he’ll always one-up me in life and the asshole took it at heart. I could be in the middle of a new home when I’d get a postcard from him. _I’ve reached third base with a lass, Swan. How about you?_ ”

Killian chuckles slightly and drinks from his own beer and Emma continues her tale.

“ _Got me first job with full pay, Swan. Remind me to buy you a beer when we see each other.”_

“Well, he’s a competitive wanker,” Killian adds and Emma nods in agreement.

“But it helped me pull through. When he signed up for community college, I did too. When he ventured to start his own business, it reminded me I could do that too. Over and over, even if he always did it first, he’d managed to drag me into doing it too.”

“Yeah, he’s done the same for me too,” Killian shifts on the couch, his arm brushing with hers. “Teases me mercilessly over it later, though.”

“That’s Will for you,” Emma says, the sudden feeling of his arm brushing hers reminding her of yet another thing that Will managed to did before she has.

But the night is not young anymore and she’s tired, so she stands up slowly. Killian gets on his feet as well and reaches for her beer.

“Let me show you the guest room,” he says as he motions her to follow him.

She walks behind him through the hallway until he stops in front of a door.

“The bed is made, the bathroom is right on the left and I’m at the end of the hallway, should you need anything,” he explains.

“What would I need in the middle of the night?” she teases and her breath catches in her throat when he takes a step closer, his body invading her personal space and she can’t seem to be bothered by it.

“You never know, Swan,” he whispers huskily.

“Tell me something,” she ventures, “how long did it took Will to kiss Belle?”

“Second date.”

Her lips curve in a mischievous smile, “Oh- I really have to top that now,” she murmurs as she leans in slightly.

But she freezes the moment she senses him pull away, taking a step back. Emma lifts her eyes and meets his blue ones, a resigned stare in them.

He clears his throat but his voice is still strained when he speaks. “I’m sorry, darling, but come to me when this is more than just a move to one-up your best friend.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter!

Killian watches the two ladies talk animatedly from across the room, before the blonde gets up and gives the petite brunette a hug. He clears his throat to catch her attention, his lips curving in a hopeful smile.

“Would you like to stay for dinner, Swan?” he inquires politely, trying to hide the eager tones in his voice.

Emma casts a quick glance at him, her eyes darting to the floor and avoiding his as she shrugs on her leather jacket. “I can’t, sorry. I have an early start tomorrow and besides, you probably want some alone time with your best friend away from me and Scarlet, right?” She doesn’t even wait for his answer before she’s almost at the door. “Goodnight!” she calls.

“Goodnight,” he whispers softly, all his hopes crashing down as watches her close the door.

He stays still for a few more minutes, his eyes lingering on the wooden details of the door. Killian supposes he could curse his luck, but he brought this one all on his own. He knew the tale - _Emma Swan has walls a mile high, mate_ -, he’s heard Will state this time after time in the years they’ve known each other. And yet, the one time - _the one bloody time_ \- she lowered those walls, he had to be a sodding gentleman and walk away. He’d only met her and he didn’t - it wasn’t the right time. He had told himself that as he leaned his forehead on his closed door that fatidic night, fighting the urge to dart towards the guest room and kiss her senseless - as he _very_ much wanted to do.

You have time, Jones, he’d told himself.

_Damn fool he’d been._ It’s been six week and she’s been avoiding him like the plague, escaping the house the moment she senses they might end up alone or coming up with excuses to reject any of his subtle attempts at some quiet moments.

A hand on his shoulder breaks him out of his inner thoughts and he turns around to see Belle smiling knowingly at him.

“I’m going to make some tea and you are going to tell me all about what is going on in here,” she says.

Killian tries to protest, but she doesn’t even let him outer one word, her finger pointed at him, her commanding tone making things clear. “And I will not take no for an answer, Killian.” She grabs his hand and pulls him into the kitchen.

He knows by now that is a lost game, that he will have to spill the beans to the knowing friend that is currently boiling the water for tea. So he sits down on their kitchen and tells his tale, starting with Emma’s hands on his arse at the coffee shop and ending with him pulling away from her at the end of that night.

He’s drunk half of his tea by the time he’s done and when he lifts his eyes, Belle is looking at him, almost teary.

“Belle, _don’t-_ ” he warns but she’s already reaching for him, enveloping him in an emotional hug.

“Killian -that was incredibly sweet…” she says as she pulls away. Her eyes change in a second and all of the sudden she’s slapping the back of his head with her hand. “And incredibly _stupid_.”

“What the bloody hell, Belle!” he protests, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. Belle has considerable strength for someone so petite and fragile-looking.

“ _You rejected her_ ,” she accuses him in an offended tone.

“I didn't!” Killian states vehemently. “I was trying- we’d just met!” he tries to explain but Belle stops him with a hand on his arm.

“I know, that is the sweet part. You clearly wanted more.” Belle lifts an eyebrow at him before he even has the chance to object and he closes his mouth shut, pondering her words. He could deny them, but he guesses the yearning looks and doey eyes hadn’t got passed his best friend’s perceptive skills.

“Aye, perhaps I do,” he half-concedes with a soft sigh.

“Ask her out,” she points out as if it were the easiest thing in the world. As if he hadn’t tried for the past six weeks to get close Emma so he can even suggest something that resemble a date with her.

“She’s been avoiding me. And Will-” he trails off, as he knows very well he should be having a conversation with Will about this. Good form, after all. Scarlet did give Killian warning about asking Belle out on a date. The wanker later ignored Killian’s objections to the matter, but he did give him warning.

“Will?!? Killian how can you be so _daft_?” Belle laughs and Killian looks at her confused. She sighs, moving around the kitchen to pour him another cup of tea “Listen to me: who sent you on a coffee run that morning, to the same place he told Emma to meet him and then bailed on her? _Who_ decided it was better to have a small intimate dinner with his best friend and then proceeded to leave you both alone that night? _Who_ knows that you take pride in your _good form_ and wouldn't even consider making a pass to his best friend unless you were actually serious about her?”

Killian feels his jaw dropping more and more as Belle’s words sink in his brain and when he finally meets her eyes, she’s all but beaming at him.

“That wanker,” is all that comes from his mouth as he runs his hand through his hair.

Belle rolls her eyes fondly at Killian’s harsh remark. “Please, are you going to tell me you’re angry at Will for looking for some furtive tactics to try so set up the two most stubborn people he’d ever met?”

He tilts his head, acknowledging the truth in Belle’s words.

“I guess it’s up to me now, isn’t it?”

Belle pats his arm, a soft smile coming to her lips.

“ _Grovel_.” 

/-/

**_Meet me for coffee, princess?_ **

Emma sighs as she sits on one of the tables at the coffee shop. If Will stood her up again she’s going to gut him. Slowly. Painfully. She’d already had a hell of a day and was looking forward to have a hot chocolate and getting her mind off of things.

But it seems that something came up - again- so she finally gives up and heads to the street. The first raindrops are starting to fall and she curses her luck once again. She’s popping up the collar on her leather jacket when he speaks behind her.

“Swan…”

She closes her eyes for a brief moment before she turns around and finds Killian smiling shyly at her underneath a black umbrella.

_Great… as if she needed this today._

“Hi,” he says softly and Emma’s knees weaken at the sound of his voice. Damn, that accent. It makes her want to lean on him and close her arms around his body and press tight and - whoa.

_Stop. Rewind. Get it together. You’ve already made a fool of yourself once. You don’t need to do it again._

“I- I was just-” she stutters and his smile widens.

“Did Will stand you up again?”

“Yeah, the idiot told me to-” she starts on a rant against Will until his words sink in and she stops. “ _Again_?”

Killian takes a few steps until he’s closer and the umbrella covers her. “I have it on good authority that our first meeting here wasn’t a casualty. He orchestrated it all. Well, _almost_ all. I don’t think he planned you groping me.” He smirks at her, his eyebrow raising.

“That asshole…” Emma trails off, now quite believing it but somehow actually believing it.

“One-up us both once again,” Killian finishes for her and he takes one step closer. “Swan, that night - I very much wanted to kiss you. I just didn’t want it to be a one-time thing. I wanted to get to know you, lass.”

Emma clears her throat, her eyes focusing on the sincerity of his blue ones. “And now that you got to know me?”

“You mean the little bit I got when you were not avoiding me?” He teases her before he tilts his head and moves even closer. “I still want to kiss you, Emma.”

Emma’s eyes dart to his lips and that is all he needs to close the space between them, capturing her lips with his. It’s soft at the beginning, but when he feels her lips moving against his, he can’t help the way he pulls her closer to him. His hand drops the umbrella as he takes a hold of her hips, dangerously close to the curve of her ass. When she pulls him even closer and tilts her head to deepen the kiss, his hands find a home on her butt.

He notices the rain again when they finally break apart and he smiles as he nuzzles her nose with his. “Can I buy you a cup of coffee?” he asks.

(The next time she grabbed his ass, she was quite sure whose arse she was squeezing. He still didn’t seem to mind)


End file.
